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My story is typical, I'm guessing, I am posting to see how many others who have opted for the MIR route have had to go through as much?
Mailed in my MIR form 6/17/2010
About a week later, get an email with the tracking number. Say, 6/23/2010.
I keep checking, I keep checking. Says processing for almost a month.
Then 7/17/2010, it says Invalid, that my address was wrong. Interesting, because I know it isn't, claims my "zip code" must be a valid US zip code. I live in Brooklyn, I know my zip code is fine.
I call them that day. First phone call, the rebate CSR (who informs me that they cannot see my account address yet asks me to verify my name and address, huh?), she corrects the "incorrect address" It's so wildly egregously wrong that I KNOW someone had a turrets moment when they were typing.
I'm told everything is fine. Also that the website takes approximately 2 weeks to update that the rebate is back on track.
I check a week later, 7/23/2010. For whatever reason I called the rebate number again. They tell me that while they have corrected my "address" my zip code appears to be wrong. Again, this is RIGHT AFTER the Rebate CSR has just had me VERIFY my name and address over the phone. I get them to correct the zip code.
Just forward to today: 8/10/2010, I call them because on Friday I received a postcard claiming my address was STILL WRONG. I check online, it's been over two weeks, the information about a disallowed rebate has not been updated.
Again, this Rebate CSR has me VERIFY my name and address but claims they can't see my information, then what are they "verifying" against? When I ask they can't tell me apparently.
After a 10 minute back and forth where I am told on no less than one occasion that "it's computers, they do whatever they want." I wanted to tell him that computers ONLY do what they are told, nothing more, the joke I've heard over the years is if you tell a computer to screw up, it's going to ask you how.
He says, he's now corrected the information and that the system will show a valid rebate status and they will be mailing out my check to me within 2 weeks.
When I asked him about why I called the other times and was told the information had been corrected and it had not, I swear I could hear him shrugging (mentally). "Look man, these are computers, they do whatever they want."
*sigh"
Just checked my rebate status, something they claimed would take two weeks to update, took this guy 2 minutes.
I'd love to hear other stories about rebate hell. Perhaps the power of persistence.
OUCH....that really had to hurt...next time though you should probably go to Radioshack...at least they have instant rebate's in place of mail in.
~Jasecloud4
Why didn't you just go to radioshack or best buy or wirefly or anywhere else that gets rid of the mail in rebate and makes it instant?
Sent from my HTC Evo 4G using XDA app.
Because I didn't. Pure and simple, I didn't. Should I have had my head examined, yes, probably.
I was just wondering if anyone else had issues with the MIR?
jkinnison90 said:
Why didn't you just go to radioshack or best buy or wirefly or anywhere else that gets rid of the mail in rebate and makes it instant?
Sent from my HTC Evo 4G using XDA app.
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Ew Wirefly...they're the worse...but Radioshack and Best Buy are fine.
~Jasecloud4
Every rebate I've ever sent in the past somehow got list never to be found again.
Sent from my Supersonic
I didn't have any problem with my Evo rebate, but did with my last phone's rebate. Everything looked fine until it got to the approved-mailing your check part of the process, then after a few days it was changed to invalid. Called them up, the guy said, "Hmm, that's weird, there's nothing wrong with it" and he put it back in. Website showed approved again for a week, then it went invalid again. Called them again, and another person said "That's weird, nothing wrong with it, let me talk to my supervisor". After holding for a while, they finally put it back in. A few weeks later, I got my check, and got the pleasant surprise of getting a $250 rebate instead of the $100 rebate I was supposed to get
whats the # you called for sprint rebate? is it just the regular customer service line?
i just checked and mines invalid lol.. and i never recieved anything for my other account.
Hopefully the world will start seeing more of this.
http://reasonablecitizen.wordpress.com/2010/03/29/mail-in-rebates-under-attack-in-wi/
I had a similar problem but they gave no reason as to why it was invalid. I sent them an email and they credited me the 100 on my next bill
I didn't have any issues with my rebate (had 2 of them actually). Just received my check last week.
my history with mail in rebates reflects the following rebate cash flow process
1. third party Rebate handler records 250,000 rebates sent in
2. Company (Sprint) reimburses rebate handler for 250,000 rebates plus 30% administrative/handling fees
3. Rebate company "invalidates due to incorrect rebate info" or "lost paperwork" or "computer glitch" 50-70% of rebates
4. Persistent rebaters (25%) call in/email/stalk/harass rebate company for rebate and finally receive rebate
5. Remaining users forget about rebate - rebate company celebrates profitable year with huge salary increases.
Me...I stay on their asses till I get my rebate - complete with calendar reminders and copies of ALL paper work till I receive my rebate.
Mule
just called, they only had 1 of 2 of my rebates on file.. looks like i gotta go back to the sprint store, fax them over everything they requested for the 2nd rebate.. 1st rebate they processed or re validated -_-
I checked my status because of this thread, I was declined, reported I got all discounts at time of purchase. I called, said it was B.S., rep said they will be mailing a $100 check now. I guess I better stay on top of this.
I just sent mine out a few days ago. I'll have to keep up on this. What is the website you guys are going to and checking the status of your rebate?
On Website
pscalett said:
I just sent mine out a few days ago. I'll have to keep up on this. What is the website you guys are going to and checking the status of your rebate?
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https://www.sprintrebates.com/track/sprintpcs/track.html?INTNAV=ATG:FT:RebStatus
You'll get an email with a rebate tracking number and a link to the rebate status page.
I checked my rebate about a month ago and it came back as an invalid address. So I called them and gave them my correct address. The reason is that the Sprint store was trying to be helpful and fill out the card but the guy has worst penmanship than I do. So instead of a 0 it looked like a "b" to the processing center. Had to go to Sprint because I am on a friends and family plan.
So they gave me the tracking number. If I look up the original one, still shows as denied - correction processed now that I just checked, but the one with the tracking number that I got when I called Sprint shows in progress and ready to be mailed within 30 days.
The other day I got a post card stating that my address was incorrect, but beats the heck out of me if they can get my address from their files - and bill me each month that they couldn't use the same address to mail me my rebate. So 8 weeks so far and waiting. Would have been nice to have sooner, not that I need the money right now, but last month was a $425 phone bill including the additional EVO tax and phone on my account.
got my check last week, sent in mid-june.
Had no problems here....smooth like always. Sorry to hear about your problem
sanjsrik said:
Because I didn't. Pure and simple, I didn't. Should I have had my head examined, yes, probably.
I was just wondering if anyone else had issues with the MIR?
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I purchase mine from sprint because no one had it in stock at the time. I kept stalking bb, rs, and the sprint website until someone had it in stock. I got the"invalid" postcard and when I contacted then they said it was because it had not been 30 days yet. I will be keeping my eye out. I use to work for sprint in the past and they got in trouble once for bogus denials of rebates. Also the rebates are processed by a third party company named Young America, they actually process the rebates for all companies.
http://www.studentrate.com/StudentR...msung-Epic-4G-StudentRate-Member-Discount--/0
* Student Rate: 350 - 100 (sprint) MIR - 50 Student rate - 25 rebate = $175 winner so far.
* Sprint Rate : 350 + 100 MIR = $250
Also says Car Charger or Invisible Shield from StudentRate if your making a new line..or just a car charger if your using an old line.
Any discount associated with a purchase made off of contract?
My Fiance is a full-time student and I registered her for this. I'm wondering though,.. would I be better of long-term getting our plan via Everything Plus (Employee referral) or get her's via this approach. I'm assuming the discounts do not stack
nismology said:
Any discount associated with a purchase made off of contract?
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I'm not sure how you are supposed to get this deal.
It states you have to purchase the phone through the StudentRate store, but the Epic 4G is not listed for sale/pre-order. Then, the code says it expires on the 31st, so how can you even use the deal if the phone isn't available for sale yet?
Im waking up early on the 31st to see if this will work on launch day
that 23% off will offset the 10 dollars a month fee
kennethlongshaw said:
Im waking up early on the 31st to see if this will work on launch day
that 23% off will offset the 10 dollars a month fee
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yezzir, free overnight shipping
It says its only for Rhode Island students. Although I've heard somewhere else you can still get 15% if you're not in Rhode Island
JUST2SUAVE said:
yezzir, free overnight shipping
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LOL, thats my biggest problem with this deal.
You have to wait an additional day to get the phone!
Is this student rate deal a legit one? And What schools does it cover?
it expires on the 31st of December now.
InfDaMarvel said:
Is this student rate deal a legit one? And What schools does it cover?
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Bump bump bump bump, answer?
I'm also trying to find out if this deal is legit. If I catch any clues I'll be sure to post what I find.
EDIT: So been checking through Google Search with a few terms and not much comes up, there is a blog post for college students about how great and beneficial the site is with a few informal testimonies, and some people post about it on Facebook. Seems to be very much in the shadows, not many people know about it, yet at least.
if you click the discount links, it takes you to the sprint site . if you select a phone and go to the plan pricing step, all of the prices reflect the appropriate discount. I went through the checkout prices and right before you pay, the discounts were all applied. IMO it seems to be real.
anybody did pre order on this site yet?
yea I preordered from them. Had to mail in a form with all of my account info to give to sprint to upgrade the account. It said overnight shipping so I'll probably get billed on the 31st and get the phone on the 1st
Unfortunately it seems this deal isnt for everyone. Upon clicking the link for the discount, all it lists is a 15% discount, and browsing the phone selection doesnt bring up the epic at all.
greengoldmello said:
Unfortunately it seems this deal isnt for everyone. Upon clicking the link for the discount, all it lists is a 15% discount, and browsing the phone selection doesnt bring up the epic at all.
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It clearly states that the 15% is for students and 23% for Rhode Island students.
The Epic isnt out yet, so of course it doesnt show up on the Sprint website. You can, however, fill out the pre-order form attached and email it to [email protected] to preorder with the appropriate discount.
LiberatorUSA said:
My Fiance is a full-time student and I registered her for this. I'm wondering though,.. would I be better of long-term getting our plan via Everything Plus (Employee referral) or get her's via this approach. I'm assuming the discounts do not stack
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Buy the phone from this site with the simply everything plan ($99.99). Once you have the phone go to sprint.com and chat with a support rep. Complain how the phone was activated under the wrong plan and just tell thing you want the Simply Everything Plus 500.
Worked for me back when I got my Pre *
*Except my phone actually was processed under the wrong plan (some 139.99 family plan)
kennethlongshaw said:
It clearly states that the 15% is for students and 23% for Rhode Island students.
The Epic isnt out yet, so of course it doesnt show up on the Sprint website. You can, however, fill out the pre-order form attached and email it to [email protected] to preorder with the appropriate discount.
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Oh ok, thats where i was confused at, my mistake.
Ive been a 10 plus year faithful customer, with no spending limit and never missed a payment and i dont get why i have to pay 350 when im up for a upgrade and still have to wait for a rebate to be sent to me? It should be taking off over the phone or in the store, anybody that work for sprint, give me input.
JUST2SUAVE said:
Ive been a 10 plus year faithful customer, with no spending limit and never missed a payment and i dont get why i have to pay 350 when im up for a upgrade and still have to wait for a rebate to be sent to me? It should be taking off over the phone or in the store, anybody that work for sprint, give me input.
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Im a Sprint Retention Supervisor... your tenure with Sprint doesn't mean your rebates are waived... Deal with it Okay okay, sorry had to get that out of my system....
No, it can not be done. Don't want to deal with rebates, go to best buy/radioshack/wirefly/newegg etc...
No way you are a Sprint Supervisor....
I've had my phone charged to my account and received the rebate as an instant credit, I actually have done this twice, so it can be done.
shotcalla said:
No way you are a Sprint Supervisor....
I've had my phone charged to my account and received the rebate as an instant credit, I actually have done this twice, so it can be done.
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And if you were smart you claimed the rebate too
My local Sprint store is offering instant rebates on all phones right now, including the Evo. They say it will be the same on the Epic when it comes out - we'll see. At this point, no outlet (Sprint, Best Buy, Radio Shack, etc.) has really stepped up to give me any particular reason to buy the Epic from them.
And while I'm hoping to avoid having to mail in a rebate, I have to admit that when I got my BB Curve a couple years back, Sprint definitely made it worth my while - I got quite a bit more back than I was "officially" supposed to get.
samsterman said:
My local Sprint store is offering instant rebates on all phones right now, including the Evo. They say it will be the same on the Epic when it comes out - we'll see. At this point, no outlet (Sprint, Best Buy, Radio Shack, etc.) has really stepped up to give me any particular reason to buy the Epic from them.
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Haven't heard of any Sprint store doing instant rebates - lucky you
shotcalla said:
No way you are a Sprint Supervisor....
I've had my phone charged to my account and received the rebate as an instant credit, I actually have done this twice, so it can be done.
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haha, thats whats up.
Sounds like this may only last until April 16th. O well.
http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/03/25/sprint-announces-mail-in-rebates-coming-to-an-end-on-march-27/
A friend of mine bought his last Friday at Sprint, sans-rebate. He went in there and told the rep he'd just go to Best Buy. The rep waived the mail in and threw in a pouch.
When the phone first came out and supplies were limited they stuck to their guns... but now that the phone is everywhere, I think they're feeling the hurt a little from losing to BB/Radioshack.
Yeah, Sprint is testing out in-store instant rebates instead of mail in starting next week. I've heard it from a couple of Sprint store employees in different areas. There's no information yet on how long the "testing" will go or if it might become permanent. It's certainly a great idea on their part.
We signed up for Sprint around the beginning of February, I sent in my rebate forms about the beginning of March (because I changed from Epic to EVO, so I had to wait to send the forms with receipts in). On the 14th they sent me an email saying that they received it.
I checked the link today to check the status on it (https://www.sprintrebates.com/) and It says that it's been approved, in the final stages of processing, and that my check should be mailed to me within 30 days.
I would have gone to Best Buy had I known better, c'est la vie.
If anyone plans on upgrading until then, I guess its worth it.
sobis1dm said:
A friend of mine bought his last Friday at Sprint, sans-rebate. He went in there and told the rep he'd just go to Best Buy. The rep waived the mail in and threw in a pouch.
When the phone first came out and supplies were limited they stuck to their guns... but now that the phone is everywhere, I think they're feeling the hurt a little from losing to BB/Radioshack.
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you realize sprints not losing anything on this, right? the customer is still signing up to pay a bill to them each month
datajosh said:
Yeah, Sprint is testing out in-store instant rebates instead of mail in starting next week. I've heard it from a couple of Sprint store employees in different areas. There's no information yet on how long the "testing" will go or if it might become permanent. It's certainly a great idea on their part.
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this isnt a trial, it was already trialed in a few markets and now is going nationwide
It's just alot more convenient. I upgraded a few weeks ago and i have to wait for my rebate to come in the mail. In the mean time i have an extra $100.00 i have to pay on my bill, along with the new phone.
This was tested in austin texas and columbus ohio and we saw an average 30% growth in month over month sales. It will be here until the 16th of april and determined after that if it will be made permanent.
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
My understanding is that the margins on the devices are razor thin and the carriers really could care less who sells you the device retail. They make all their profits on the service. So I doubt losing retail device sales to Best Buy is their motive for this.
But then again I don't own a sprint store so I have no idea how accurate that is.
Either way it seems like Sprint is making some nice, aggressive moves to sign up new customers.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
matt2053 said:
My understanding is that the margins on the devices are razor thin and the carriers really could care less who sells you the device retail. They make all their profits on the service. So I doubt losing retail device sales to Best Buy is their motive for this.
But then again I don't own a sprint store so I have no idea how accurate that is.
Either way it seems like Sprint is making some nice, aggressive moves to sign up new customers.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
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Thats true. Not much markup on the phones retail prices. Not to mention we sell them on contact for almost nothing. Were just selling a subscription service
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
Did the rebate get us to buy he Treo? No.
Follow up to this post: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=12393565&postcount=4
I got my rebate check yesterday. It was $200 exactly as was stated (my wife and I both got phones). Six weeks was about right, then.
The instant rebate has been extended to May 7th.
Xoom coming to sprint tomorrow still $599. I don't know if I am just easy out of the loop on this or what and a google search told me nothing. But I went into my sprint store today and they told me that the xoom is launching tomorrow. They even offered to let mar have one today but I'm not interested. Just thought I would let you guys know if you didn't already. Like I said couldn't find out on google.
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bsbokc said:
Xoom coming to sprint tomorrow still $599. I don't know if I am just easy out of the loop on this or what and a google search told me nothing. But I went into my sprint store today and they told me that the xoom is launching tomorrow. They even offered to let mar have one today but I'm not interested. Just thought I would let you guys know if you didn't already. Like I said couldn't find out on google.
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Xoom wifi is being sold in stores.
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It was available on the store officially 5/8, I ordered mine last night, can't wait!!! Love that I can charge it to my account and pay it off on my own time.
trhonda2000 said:
It was available on the store officially 5/8, I ordered mine last night, can't wait!!! Love that I can charge it to my account and pay it off on my own time.
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Me too! 10 chars
trhonda2000 said:
It was available on the store officially 5/8, I ordered mine last night, can't wait!!! Love that I can charge it to my account and pay it off on my own time.
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How do you do that. I would jump on this if I could do that.
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Wouldn't you have to pay it off on the next bill? I don't like charging stuff to my account because I'd rather pay for it in full. I didn't know you can essentially finance equipment.
gqstatus0685 said:
Wouldn't you have to pay it off on the next bill?
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That is the way it has always worked with my account...
Just make sure you dont get caught up dude @ the guy who said he would pay it off at his own pace.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
the xoom was released on sunday. i ordered one and have it now. none of the stores had it in stock.. perhaps tomorrow they will. i sold my 3G version....
and yes you can charge equipment to your account.
I'm a girl btw, and I was told by the Sprint collections department that you do not have to pay it off in full the next billing cycle, that there is no time limit as long as they see you are paying on it, so we will see.
EDIT TO ADD: I was told that I had no limit on my account, not sure if that has anything to do with it. I know Sprint implements "spending limits" to some customers and some have no limit, so not sure if this has anything to do with it.
Too bad they don't have a 3/4G version available. Would love to add it to my unlimited plan.
trhonda2000 said:
I'm a girl btw, and I was told by the Sprint collections department that you do not have to pay it off in full the next billing cycle, that there is no time limit as long as they see you are paying on it, so we will see.
EDIT TO ADD: I was told that I had no limit on my account, not sure if that has anything to do with it. I know Sprint implements "spending limits" to some customers and some have no limit, so not sure if this has anything to do with it.
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That's the most insane thing I've heard in a while. I've never heard of anyone doing this. So you're going to float your bill and pay fees and other penalties until you can afford to pay it off? If you have even a slightly good credit rating you could get a $600 credit card with 0% for a year probably...
i added a couple of mobile phones several years ago to my account--not at the same time but one was one year and then a year later or so..
anyway, i paid the mobile handset off across 2 billing cycles at least (phone was like 600 ish then) and had no fees or extra costs.
the main thing was paying your wireless bill on time.
home girl's case may be solid and unique to her case so i am inclined to believe her based on my past experience.
you must not have any limits or ASL on your account and be in good standing with no past due balance. im sure you may know this...
From what I was told purchasing "equipment" doesn't incur fees, only your service bill does. I will still pay my service bill on time but the equipment I charged will be paid off in payments. After searching online I too am seeing conflicting information regarding this, so now I'm slightly leary. Worst case scenario I will be sending it back if what I was told was false.
Yeah I've been with Sprint for like 7 years since I was in high school. I don't have a spending limit on my account and pay my bill in full every month and never had one late payment. I don't like to bill to my account but to each is own.
I prefer to just pay it in full just be to be on safe side of things. Good luck with your purchase though but just make sure you call to verify the payment plan options because it's harder to get things fixed when they are screwed up.
I'm only saying to call because every time I call Sprint I get conflicting information and nobody seems to know what they are doing. Also if you want to check your Sprint Credit Worthiness log into your Sprint account then delete the address bar and replace it with this:
javascript:function getYesNo(s){if(s=='Y') {return 'Yes';}else{return 'No';}};alert("Your Hidden Stats:\n\nSprint Financial Value: "+loyaltyAccVal+" of 10 (higher is better)\nCredit Class: "+creditClass+"\nAccount Spending Limit: "+getYesNo(aslFlag)+"\nHotlined Account: "+getYesNo(hotlineFlag));
and hit enter. A box will pop up and that will show you. I believe it would be correlated to the results if they will allow you to bill to your account.
Mines shows:
Sprint Financial Value: 7 out of 10
Credit Class: G1
Account Spending Limit: No
Hotlined: No
Well I've gotten conflicting info when calling. When I speak to sales they have no idea and put me on hold to find out and then tell me it has to be paid in full after speaking with the "collections department", when I spoke to someone in billing I was told that it doesn't have to be paid in full and many customers have "made payments" on purchases billed to their account. I would love to pay for it in full but I can't shell out $600 at once so that's why this option appealed to me, if it turns out that's not the case as I stated before I will give them hell and worst case scenario return the equipment.
Yeah just looking out for you. I always call multiple times and ask for a manager because there are a bunch of nifnards working for Sprint.
gqstatus0685 said:
Yeah just looking out for you. I always call multiple times and ask for a manager because there are a bunch of nifnards working for Sprint.
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LOL isn't that the truth! Its going to really piss me off if that's not how it works for my account as I was really looking forward to getting the Xoom and accessories I ordered. I hate calling there because I can never get a straight answer about anything, and the order is already out for delivery so too late to cancel if that's true, I will truly give them hell if I was given false information.
there is no pay plan. they give you about 2 bill cycles which is plenty. if you need more time, make sure you are showing good faith--by paying your wireless bill and also paid a good portion of yourequipment--this gives you good favor with the account rep and they may be more inclined to help.
we all want to pay our balances off at once--however sprint extends this as a courtesy to their good customers. if you know you can afford the device you can maximize your purchasing power in a short time period.
I did call accounting services again to confirm my initial answer towards this. I was told there is no official "payment plan" per say, however they do not "require" you to pay the equipment off the following billing cycle. He did mention as long as you are paying your cell bill and making payments towards the balance there should be no problems, however he recommended that its paid off in a "timely manner". So yep, basically what the poster above me said. We shall see...